Russian Man Headed to Federal Prison for Smuggling Military Tech to Russia
A man who smuggled military-grade U.S. technology to Russia to help Russia in its war with Ukraine, is sentenced to three years in federal prison and three years’ supervised release.
52-year-old Maxim Marchenko pleaded guilty in February to one count of smuggling and one count of money laundering.
Prosecutors say Marchenko and two co-conspirators operated an illicit procurement network from their base in Hong Kong. The network fraudulently obtained large quantities of OLED micro displays from U.S distributors and smuggled them into Russia using shell companies and other means to hide their true destination.
OLED technology can be used to make a variety of military-related products including rifle scopes, night vision goggles, thermal optics, and other weapon systems.
Marchenko allegedly told U.S. distributors that his companies were sending the OLED displays to China, Hong Kong, and elsewhere, for use in electron microscopes for medical research and for use in hunting rifles.
“Today’s sentence holds Mr. Marchenko accountable for his role in a procurement syndicate that funneled U.S.-manufactured military-grade microelectronics to end users in Russia, illegally delivering controlled technologies worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Justice Department remains relentlessly focused on dismantling illicit procurement networks led by individuals like the defendant, who use their business skills and connections to advance the Russian war agenda,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen.
Marchenko’s shell companies moved about $1.6 million to the U.S. from May 2022 to August 2023. He was taken into U.S. custody in September.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the FBI New York Field Office, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and other entities.
